Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Del Norte head coach Darren LaFazio talks to his players after they clinched the Big 4 at St. Bernard’s on the final day of the regular season last year
By Ray Hamill — A remarkable run for Del Norte football is showing no signs of slowing down, and that has a lot to do with the culture of the program.
Few H-DNL teams have as a big a presence in the weight room during the offseason as the Warriors do, and a big part of that is the culture the team leaders set for their younger teammates every year.
Many of this year’s seniors — a group that includes returning all-league selections William McCovey, Dane Brown and Tobias Meyers — learned the importance of that from the Del Norte team leaders when they first joined the program as freshmen, and now they’re the ones setting the example for the new younger players.
“This year our kids are focused. I’m so proud of them,” head coach Darren LaFazio said. “The kids have been working hard in the weight room all year and it’s a beautiful thing. They buy in.”
McCovey, in particular, looks poised for a monster year.
The outstanding senior, who has been a constant presence in the weight room, will play fullback and inside linebacker and has established himself as a key team leader up in Crescent City.
“He’s done everything this year,” LaFazio said of McCovey. “He’s the best and he’s a great team leader. He’s as tough as they come.”
The Warriors have remarkably won five straight Big 4 titles — four of them outright — and they’ll be looking to stretch that impressive run this fall.
And they should have the players to achieve that.
“We’ve got some good ball players and they just go for it,” LaFazio said.
Del Norte opens the new season at home against Hoopa on Aug. 29, before hitting the road for four straight games.
That run includes non-conference games at Ashland, Arcata and Skyline in Oakland, as well as their Big 4 opener at Fortuna.
William McCovey scores a touchdown against Eureka last fall.
This year’s Big 4 features a new format, with all four schools playing each other twice each (home and away) instead of just once each as they have in recent years.
And that should only add to the excitement in the race for this year’s championship.
After opening conference play at Fortuna, the Warriors will then play three straight home conference games against Eureka, St. Bernard’s and Fortuna, before closing out the regular season with back-to-back road games at Eureka and St. Bernard’s.
And LaFazio is expecting all three of his team’s conference rivals to be in the mix.
“(The league has) a bunch of talent for sure, and I think it’s going to be hard to win,” Lafazio said. “We’ve got a bunch of good coaches in our league too.”
